Spectre
Spectre is the twenty-fourth James Bond spy film produced by Eon Productions. It will be the second film in the series directed by Sam Mendes and will feature Daniel Craig in his fourth performance as agent 007, and Christoph Waltz as Franz Oberhauser, the film's antagonist. Spectre was released on November 6, 2015. Premise A cryptic message sets in motion events that will see James Bond come face-to-face with the sinister organisation known as SPECTRE. As Gareth Mallory, the newly appointed M, continues fighting political pressures that threaten the future of MI6, Bond follows a trail from Mexico to Austria and Morocco as he is drawn into a confrontation with an enemy from his past, who holds a dangerous secret that will force him to question the value of everything he has fought to protect. Cast * Daniel Craig as James Bond, agent 007. Director Sam Mendes has described Bond as being extremely focused in Spectre, likening his newfound dedication to hunting. * Christoph Waltz as Franz Oberhauser. * Léa Seydoux as Dr. Madeleine Swann, a psychologist working at a private medical clinic in the Austrian Alps. * Monica Bellucci as Lucia Sciarra, the widow of an assassin killed by Bond. * Andrew Scott as Denbigh, a member of the British government. * Dave Bautista as Mr. Hinx, an assassin and high-ranking member of SPECTRE. * Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory, the head of MI6 and Bond's superior who is better-known by his code-name, "M". * Naomie Harris as Eve Moneypenny, a former agent who left the field to become M's assistant. * Ben Whishaw as Q, the MI6 quartermaster who outfits Bond with equipment in the field. * Rory Kinnear as Bill Tanner, the MI6 Chief of Staff. * Jesper Christensen as Mr. White, a fugitive from MI6 and a senior figure in the Quantum organisation, with unknown ties to SPECTRE. * Alessandro Cremona as Marco Sciarra, an assassin and husband of Lucia Sciarra. Production Copyright status The ownership of the SPECTRE organisation and its characters had been at the centre of long-standing litigation starting in 1961 between Ian Fleming and Kevin McClory over the film rights to the novel Thunderball. The dispute began after Fleming incorporated elements of an undeveloped film script written by McClory into Thunderball. In 1963 Fleming settled out of court with McClory, in an agreement which awarded McClory the film rights. This enabled him to become a producer for the 1965 film Thunderball—with Albert R. Broccoli and Harry Saltzman as executive producers—and the non-canonical film Never Say Never Again in 1983. allowing their subsequent appearances in You Only Live Twice, On Her Majesty's Secret Service and Diamonds Are Forever.}} Under the terms of the settlement, the literary rights stayed with Fleming. In November 2013 MGM and the McClory estate formally settled the issue with Danjaq, LLC—the parent company of Eon Productions—and MGM acquiring the full copyright film rights to the concept of SPECTRE and all of the characters associated with it. Pre-production Sony Pictures Entertainment hack In November 2014 Sony Pictures Entertainment was targeted by hackers who released details of confidential e-mails between Sony executives regarding several high-profile film projects. Included within these were several memos relating to the production of Spectre claiming that the film was over budget and detailing early drafts of the script written by John Logan. Eon Productions later issued a statement confirming the leak of what they called "an early version of the screenplay". Source material Despite being an original story, Spectre draws on Ian Fleming's source material, most notably in the character of Franz Oberhauser, played by Christoph Waltz. Oberhauser shares his name with Hannes Oberhauser, a background character in the short story "Octopussy" from the Octopussy and The Living Daylights collection, and who is named in the film as having been a temporary legal guardian of a young Bond in 1983. Similarly, Charmian Bond is shown to have been his full-time guardian, observing the back story established by Fleming. Casting The main cast were revealed in December 2014 at the 007 Stage at Pinewood Studios. Daniel Craig returned for his fourth appearance as James Bond, while Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris and Ben Whishaw reprised their roles as M, Eve Moneypenny and Q respectively, having being established in Skyfall. Rory Kinnear will also reprise his role as Bill Tanner in his third appearance in the franchise. Christoph Waltz was cast in the role of Franz Oberhauser, though he refused to comment on the nature of the part. Dave Bautista was cast as Mr. Hinx after producers sought an actor with a background in contact sports. Monica Bellucci also joined the cast as Lucia Sciarra, becoming the oldest actor to be cast as a "Bond girl" at the age of fifty. In a separate interview with Danish website Euroman, Jesper Christensen revealed he will be reprising his role as Mr. White from Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace. Christensen's character was reportedly killed off in a scene intended to be used as an epilogue to Quantum of Solace before it was removed from the final cut of the film, enabling his return in Spectre. In addition to the principal cast, Alessandro Cremona was cast as Marco Sciarra, Stephanie Sigman was cast as Estrella, and Detlef Bothe was cast as a villain for scenes shot in Austria. In February 2015 over fifteen hundred extras were hired for the pre-title sequence set in Mexico, though they will be duplicated in the film, giving the effect of around ten thousand extras. Crew In March 2013 Sam Mendes said he would not return to direct the next film in the series, then known as Bond 24; he later recanted and announced that he would return, as he found the script and the plans for the long-term future of the franchise appealing. In directing Skyfall and Spectre, Mendes will become the first director to oversee two consecutive Bond films since John Glen directed The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill in 1987 and 1989. Skyfall writer John Logan resumed his role of scriptwriter, collaborating with Neal Purvis and Robert Wade, who returned for their fifth Bond film. }} The writer Jez Butterworth also worked on the script, alongside Mendes and Craig. Dennis Gassner will also return as the film's production designer, while cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema will take over from Roger Deakins. Filming Mendes revealed that production would begin on 8 December 2014 at Pinewood Studios, with filming taking seven months. Mendes also confirmed several filming locations, including London, Mexico City and Rome. Cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema is shooting the film on Kodak 35 mm film stock. Early filming took place at Pinewood Studios, and around London, with scenes variously featuring Craig and Harris at Bond's flat, and Craig and Kinnear travelling down the River Thames. Filming started in Austria in December 2014, with production taking in the area around Sölden—including the Ötztal Glacier Road, Rettenbach glacier and the adjacent ski resort and cable car station—and Obertilliach and Lake Altaussee before concluding in February 2015. Scenes filmed in Austria centred on the Ice Q Restaurant, standing in for the fictional Hoffler Klinik, a private medical clinic in the Austrian Alps. Filming included an action scene featuring a Land Rover Defender Bigfoot and a Range Rover Sport. Production was temporarily halted first by an injury to Craig, who sprained his knee whilst shooting a fight scene, and later by an accident involving a filming vehicle that saw three crew members injured, at least one of them seriously. Filming temporarily returned to England to shoot scenes at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, which will stand in for a location in Rome, before moving on to the city itself for a five-week shoot across the city, with locations including the Ponte Sisto bridge and the Roman Forum. The production faced opposition from a variety of special interest groups and city authorities who were concerned about the potential for damage to historical sites around the city and problems with graffiti and rubbish appearing in the film. A car chase scene set along the banks of the Tiber River and through the streets of Rome will feature an Aston Martin DB10 and a Jaguar C-X75. The C-X75 was originally developed as a hybrid electric vehicle with four independent battery-powered engines before the project was cancelled, but the version used for filming was converted to use a conventional internal combustion engine to minimise the potential for disruption from mechanical problems with the complex hybrid system. With filming completed in Rome, production moved to Mexico City in late March to shoot the film's opening sequence, with scenes to include the Day of the Dead festival filmed in and around the Zócalo and the Centro Histórico district. The planned scenes required the city square to be closed for filming a sequence involving a fight aboard a Messerschmitt-Bölkow-Blohm Bo 150 helicopter flown by stunt pilot Chuck Aaron, which called for modifications to be made to several buildings to prevent damage. Reports in the Mexican media added that the film's second unit would move to Palenque in the state of Chiapas to film aerial manoeuvres considered too dangerous to shoot in an urban area. Following filming in Mexico, and during a scheduled break, Craig was flown to New York to undergo minor surgery to fix his knee injury. It was reported that filming was not affected and he had returned to filming at Pinewood Studios as planned on 22 April. A brief shoot at London's City Hall was filmed on 18 April 2015, while Mendes was on location. On 17 May 2015 filming took place on the Thames in London. Stunt Scenes involving Craig and Seydoux on a speedboat as well as a low flying helicopter near Westminster Bridge were shot at night, with filming temporarily closing Westminster and Lambeth Bridges. Scenes were also shot on the river near MI6's headquarters at Vauxhall Cross. The crew returned to the river less than a week later to film scenes solely set on Westminster Bridge. The London Fire Brigade was on set to simulate rain as well as monitor smoke used for filming. Craig, Seydoux, and Waltz as well as Harris and Fiennes were seen being filmed. Prior to this, scenes involving Fiennes were shot at a restaurant in Covent Garden. The crew are expected to return to the Thames in early June. Production is scheduled to travel to Morocco in June, with filming to take place in Oujda, Tangier and Erfoud after preliminary work is completed by the production's second unit. Taxation benefits controversy Whilst filming in Mexico City, speculation in the media claimed that the script had been altered to accommodate the demands of Mexican authorities—reportedly influencing details of the scene and characters, casting choices, and modifying the script in order to portray the country in a "positive light"—in order to secure tax concessions and financial support worth up to $20 million for the film. This was denied by producer Michael G. Wilson, who stated that the scene had always been intended to be shot in Mexico as production had been attracted to the imagery of the Day of the Dead, and that the script had been developed from there. Production of Skyfall had previously faced similar problems while attempting to secure permits to shoot the film's pre-title sequence in India before moving to Istanbul. Music Thomas Newman returned as Spectre s composer. Rather than composing the score once the film had moved into post-production, Newman worked during filming, composing music for the opening sequence in Mexico City. Release Spectre is due to be released worldwide on 6 November 2015. Following the announcement of the start of filming, Paramount Pictures brought forward the release of Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation to avoid competing with Spectre. In March 2015 IMAX corporation announced that Spectre would be screened in its cinemas, following Skyfall's success with the company. Marketing During the December 2014 press conference announcing the start of filming, Aston Martin and Eon unveiled the new DB10 as the official car for the film. The DB10 was designed in collaboration between Aston Martin and the filmmakers, with only ten being produced especially for ''Spectre as a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the company's association with the franchise. To promote the film, production continued the trend established during Skyfall's production of releasing still images of clapperboards and video blogs on Eon's official social media accounts. On 13 March 2015, several members of the cast and crew, including Daniel Craig, Ben Whishaw, Michael G. Wilson and Sam Mendes, as well as previous James Bond actor Sir Roger Moore appeared in a sketch written by David Walliams and the Dawson Brothers for Comic Relief's Red Nose Day on BBC One in which they film a behind-the-scenes mockumentary on the filming of Spectre. The first teaser trailer for Spectre was released worldwide on 27 March 2015. 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